William c



(No Model.)

w. 0. GRAFTON. HOTEL INDICATOR.

UNITE STATES PATENT FFICE.

\VILLIAM C. GRAFTON, OF TOPEKA, KANSAS, ASSIGNOR OF THREEFOURTHS TO HENRY F. IIIBBEN, JOHN B. HIBBON, AND SAMUEL GARRARD, ALL

OF SAME PLACE.

HOTEL-INDICATOR.

Y SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 415,105, dated November 12, 1889.

Application filed Ianuar; 2, 1889.

To all whomit may concern.-

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM G. GRAFTON, of Topeka, Shawnee county, Kansas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Night-Call Boards for Hotels, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part hereof.

My improvement relates to that class of indicators which are used in hotels to indicate the hour at which a guest in a certain room desires to be called; and it consists of the detailed construction and arrangement of the parts, as will be hereinafter described, illustrated, and claimed.

Referring to the drawings, in which similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures, Figure 1 is a front elevation of my improved indicator, and Fig.2 is a perspective view of one of the pegs detached.

In carrying out my invention I employ a frame A, which may be of any suitable shape, said frame being provided with a suitable backing, which may be divided into any desired number of advertising-spaces a a. At the bottom of the frame A, and extending entirely across its face, I arrange the series of pegs or pins 0, bearing the numbers of the rooms, in parallel rows of perforations 0, formed in the back of the frame A. Directly above the rows of pegs and about the vertical center of the board or frame A, I arrange a vertical compartment or panel,which contains at one side a column of numbers B, representing the different hours and fractions thereof. Directly opposite the hours and fractions I form a series of openings D, adapted to receive the pegs 0, thus indicating clearly at what time a guest in a certain room desires to be called, and it is obvious that-by having a series of such holes D arranged opposite the hours any number of guests occupying different rooms can be called at the same time.

The operation of my device is very simple. For instance, suppose a guest occupying room No. 2 desires to be called at 5.30. The hotelclerk will remove the pegO bearing the number 2 upon its face and place it in the hole opposite the hour 5.30 of the hour-column B.

Serial No. 295,127. (No model.)

Should another guest occupying a different room desire to be called at the same time, the clerk will remove the peg bearing the number of his room and place it in one of the perforations opposite the peg No. 2. K

I am aware that the use, as ameans to note the time of the arrival and departure of the employs or occupants of a public establishment, of a board having a series of apertures opposite which are indicated the hours and fractions thereof, and numbered plugs for adjustment from one aperture to another, is not new, and thereforeI do not claim, broadly, an indicator provided with a time-co1umn and perforations opposite to the numbers in the said column for the reception of numbered plugs or pegs.

I am aware of the patent granted to Winder, No. 208,780, which shows a car-indicator provided with numbered pegs and columns of perforations to receive said pegs; and I am also aware of the patent granted to Gareau, No. 383,393, which shows an office-indicator provided with numbered pegs, a time-column, and perforations adjacent to the time-column; but I do not claim these features, broadly, and neither of the said indicators will serve for the purpose for which my improved callboard is designed. In the latter a group or series of perforations exclusively appropriated to the pegs is arranged at the bottom of the frame within convenient reach of the clerk and extending entirely across the face of said frame. Above the center of this group or series is arranged a vertical panel or compartment containing the time-column and series of perforations aligned with the numbers in said column, and above and on opposite sides of the central panel or compartment and above the lower group or series of perforations are arranged a series of advertisinglies in the peculiar and novel arrangement of parts whereby the uses and advantages of a hotel night-call board and an advertising board are combined in a simple and inexpensive device.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

The herein-described night-call board for hotels, consisting of a frame having a base or board A, provided at its bottom with a transverse or horizontal group or series of perforationsc c, which are exclusively appropriated to plugs or pegs bearing numbers or characters to designate rooms, said plugs or pegs being normally located in such perforations, the vertical central panel or compartment containing at one side a column of numbers B, indicating hours and fractions of hours, and an additional group or series of perforations D D, aligned horizontally with the numbers in said column B and adapted to receive the numbered plugs or pegs to indicate that the occupant of a certain room desires to be called at a certain hour, and the advertisingspaces a (1, arranged above and on opposite sides of the central panel or compartment and above the lower group or series of perforations c, all constructed and arranged substantially as and for the purpose specified.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

\VILLIAM C. GRAFTON. Witnesses:

J. D. SALMONS, W. J. MCKINNEY. 

